


Knocking on Heaven’s Door- Sequel to The End Days (well, years)

by fandomgeek14



Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-25
Updated: 2020-07-07
Packaged: 2020-09-26 17:48:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 9,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20393680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fandomgeek14/pseuds/fandomgeek14
Summary: 96 years after the demon Lilith’s capture, a series of unfortunate events has lead Delilah Crowley to give up helping Heaven or Hell at all. But when an angel appears needing her, Aziraphale and Crowley’s help for exchange with a potential lead about her husband’s death, will she be willing to help and find out what the hell Cyrus Black agreed to in Hell? Or will she ignore it completely?





	1. Goodbye’s Are Never Easy

* * *

Rain poured down on the small funeral procession in London on the 4th November. There was a small plot of the graveyard, where there were four graves reserved. Eddard Wilkins-Jones, Dexter Wilkins-Jones, Cyrus Black and Delilah Black (nee Crowley). Delilah’s had just been for reassurance just in case she wasn’t immortal and was also for appearance sake. Cyrus had also just been reassurance since, they were sure whether he’d be immortal or whether he’d have a normal life span. Two of those graves had already been filled, in the hundred and five years since the first botched apocalypse. 

Ned had been the first to go, at age seventy one, he was at work as a the head computer engineer at a company, on the very brink of retirement with two weeks to go when he tripped down a flight of stairs and was knocked unconscious. He never regained consciousness, suffering a brain haemorrhage as a result of the fall but he died with his husband and his adopted children around him. 

The next to go was unsurprisingly, Dexter, 17 years after Ned, in his sleep, passing peacefully away. 

Cyrus and Delilah Black had attended both funerals, standing at the back of the procession as to not draw attention to themselves. 

This time it was different. For this time Delilah stood at the front of the procession, in plain sight, and this time nobody was there to experience losing a friend with her. She was barely standing, barely holding it together. She was the worst she’d been since- well since she was twelve. she was alone, for Cyrus was gone. And he wasn’t coming back this time. Not ever.

Except, she wasn’t strictly stood alone. Her parents were stood right by her side, supporting her to the best of their ability.

Her pa, the angel Aziraphale, could still remember the blood curdling scream, the begging, the pleading that had come from his daughter that fateful morning. 

Her dad, the demon Crowley, could still remember waking up and hurrying down the stairs of the bookshop* to find out what the commotion was. 

They both could remember their daughter clinging to the lifeless body in the middle of the floor. 

And now there she was clinging onto the both of them tightly, as if she was scared that if she’d let go they’d go too. Aziraphale was crying, whilst muttering things to comfort her like “it’ll be alright” and “everything’s going to be okay” and “he’s in a better place now, I promise”, Crowley was stood devastated that his daughter was distraught and there was nothing he could do to help but hold her. Both of them knew what she was feeling. It radiated off her. Delilah’s heart had been ripped out, stamped on and torn apart by the events that had unfolded that dreadful morning. Delilah Crowley was broken beyond repair. And would not be fixed for a long time.

* * *

*The angel and the demon had arrived at the bookshop which was now owned by Delilah on a visit.


	2. Crowley and Hastur

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hastur makes an appearance at the funeral and Crowley is far from happy and a little suspicious. meanwhile Cyrus Black struggles to adjust to life as a Demon.

Anthony J Crowley, for all his faults was extremely protective of his family. When somebody hurt his daughter or husband* then he could sense it from over a mile away. he could also smell lies as every single demon could. this was incredibly useful sometimes but the last place he'd expected to smell a lie was at a funeral. the funeral of his son in law no-less, but that is what he sensed as he stood holding Delilah as she grieved at the graveside after the ceremony was over. 

The lie and the overly sense of evil was coming from behind them, and that's where Crowley's head turned, as if on instinct. his eyes narrowed as he saw someone in the distance, and he knew immediately who it was, so he excused himself, gently prying himself from his daughter's grasp, he sauntered away from the graves, towards the man at the edge of the graveyard, in the trees. 

"Hastur" 

"Crowley" 

"what are _you_ doing here?"

"seeing the pain" 

"what have you done?" Crowley growled suddenly slamming Hastur into a tree. 

"nothing, why do you think i have something to do with it?" 

"because you lot always do!" 

Hastur smirked "Cyrus sends his regards to your daughter, sorry he couldn't be here"

this caught Crowley by surprise "what do you mean by that?" 

"ask your angel, he knows" Hastur said "now put me down. please" he winced at the last bit.

Crowley obeyed, but only because he did not want to kill a demon and make his daughters day considerably worse. The demon sank into the ground, leaving Crowley to wonder what on earth had Aziraphale been keeping from him and Delilah if there was any truth to it at all. he walked back to his family. something was definitely amiss by Hastur's wording, the poo smelling toad, and he had to find out what, for Delilah's sake.

* * *

* * *

Hell was already, well, hell for Cyrus Black. he'd only been there for five days (or longer, he wasn't sure) and he already hated it. He'd been set to work in the ninth circle of hell, guarding his mother, Lilith, from escaping, which he supposed wasn't as bad as some of the other jobs in Hell in the gran scheme of things, but what made it bad was this was, his own personal hell, in charge of the demon that had almost killed his then future wife and actually killed him!

"ah Cyrus, honey, it's been five days, talk to me" 

Cyrus didn't speak.

"You'll come round soon enough" Lilith said

nothing from Cyrus again.

"you know it's not terrible being in here"

again nothing. 

"you'll get used to it soon and you'll realise it isn't too bad" she said before a flash of realisation hits her and she smirks 

"oh, are you missing your darling abomination yet?"

at that, Cyrus turned around to look at her

"don't you fucking call her that!" he snapped at her

"that's it! that's the part of me you've inherited!" her smirk widened "she's never going to come back for you, you know" 

"you don't know Delilah, she will" Cyrus said 

"oh don't have hope, that's disgusting" 

"hope's a good thing" 

"not down here it isn't" Lilith shook her head "you'll soon give up" 

"I won't" 

"just you wait and see" Lilith said as Cyrus sat down against Lilith's cell bars "you'll see, she'll forget about you and leave you all alone. you'll come to see our side with time"

Cyrus closed his eyes ignoring his mother, he really, really, hoped he could get out of here at some point. he hoped Delilah would think of something to rescue him. and do it quickly too. 

* * *

*Crowley had finally given into his changed view of marriage and married Aziraphale sometime after Delilah's thirteenth birthday.


	3. A Chance Encounter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three Years later and Delilah has a chance encounter with a detective who is not exactly a detective....

**Three years later...**

Seven shots of vodka and half a bottle of beer down the hatch and Delilah Crowley, once Delilah Black, was effectively smashed. not that she cared. Being drunk was a feeling she'd grown happily accustomed to over the past three years, after losing the majority of the people she cared about. in fact she understood why her parents liked it so much, it was a funny feeling. But unlike her parents, she never drank because it was fun, she drank because, it numbed the pain of everyone leaving her behind. 

"I never wanted any of this" she said into her bottle in a drunken murmur " been gone three years and you'd thunk you'd be happy with life. but nah. I never asked to be immortal, I never asked to be born even. not even me dads asked-" she stopped to hiccup

"-for me to be born. just one night fucking each other like rabbits and pop! materialised out- out of Az, a shit angel by the way, and there I was, fucking half angel- demon thing, ready to take on the world, but where did that get me? right here. nice one God almighty! be weary of- urp- 'scuse me, Cyrus- an' he did nothing wrong, not kill me in battle, or b'tray me either, even didn't cause Alex's death, yanno, my son, three years old, bit the dust- in the car Cyrus was driving an' crashed- cus' of the road- must been fifty years ago or somthin'- no, Cyrus just died, for no goddamn reason, with no goddamn warning or evil in sight. it's all just a big ol' joke"

Delilah took a gulp of drink, nobody was giving a care about her or her drunken rambling, like they hadn't done in- well she didn't know- but it was as long as she was drinking in this sorry state. she noticed the bar stool next to her fill and a voice say to the bartender 

"one scotch please" 

she drank another gulp. wasn't in the mood for interactions with strangers but out of the corner of her eye she saw the the stranger acting seemed eager to talk.

"what brings you down here this evening?" he inquired 

"avoiding reality, which includes not talking to strangers" Delilah grumbled

"well isn't it a little dangerous? spending all your time in one bar?" 

"tis' not if you're drunk already"

"uh-that's not exactly what I meant" 

the stranger, she noted through her very limited focus, had a grey fedora hat on, and a old brown trench coat, that was too big for him, and that didn't make him look shady at all. 

"w-what'd you mean?" she stumbled over her words a little

"aren't you worried about demons getting you?"

"what'd yanno 'bout demons?" she asked "they're pieces of shit"

"I know you've upset quite a lot of demons, Delilah" 

"how you know my name?!" Delilah asked confused 

"your reputation proceeds you" he smiled warmly at her "now before I tell you anything else it might be in your best interest if you sober up"

Delilah nodded, curious to find out more about this stranger, she ejected every last bit of alcohol out of her system, which, leaves a terrible taste in your mouth*. she shook her head and grimaced before noticing the man properly, he was Caucasian, had locks of curly dirty blonde hair poking out from under his fedora and teal blue coloured eyes that were quite, well, pretty, if she had to be completely honest.

"okay, who are you and what do you want?"

"straight down to business?" 

"well you just ruined my evening of drinking until I could barely walk"

"ah, I am dreadfully sorry about that" he said "but it made it easier for you to remember and process stuff if you were sober" 

"touche.. anyway, i'm going to repeat my question, who are you and what do you want?"

the stranger took a deep breath before proceeding with the conversation. 

"I am Joey Bell, a private detective from Greenwich. I also happen to be a demoted arch-angel"

"demoted archangel? so you're a fallen angel?"

"no, I just got demoted after the angel rebellion because I refused to fight on either side. so i got demoted from archangel to principality and guardian angel, to the point where I wasn't even mentioned in the bible as a archangel"

"Joey Bell...Joey Bell..." Delilah thought "sounds a lot like...Jophiel"

"you're right, not many people make that connection quickly" he looked surprised

"not many people live with an angel for a pa who did a similar trick with his name"

"ah yes how is Aziraphale? I haven't seen him in a while"

"fine... but now's not the time for pleasantries because I know you're here to ask me something, Bugsy Malone"

"Bugsy Malone? oh, the whole fedora thing" Jophiel said "anyway, here's the short story, the angels are starting to rebel again, after realising that they could have a bit more freedom especially after your parents little trick, which I found incredibly impressive, over a hundred years ago. however, about ninety one years ago, Gabriel has found out about it and is aiming to damn more examples, and find a way to target the source, which is ultimately you and your parents"

"why me?" 

"he was not impressed with you trapping Lilith. he wanted her gone for good" he said

"Gabriel's a prick" 

"that I agree with, being Cyrus' gardian angel did have some pay offs" 

"you were Cyrus' guardian angel?" 

"regrettably yes, Gabriel is not very happy with me about that- said i didn't do my job properly"

"so it was your fault he's now dead and in Hell again!"

"no, that was all Cyrus' doing, it was not protecting him the first time that angered Gabriel up"

Delilah ignored this comment, there was nothing to say, he was probably right, hell! she didn't even know what caused Cyrus' death, so it might not have been the angel's fault "so why are you coming to me anyway?"

"we need your help with leading the rebellion" 

"no" Delilah said immediately and sharp "I gave up helping Heaven or Hell three years ago, when they took Cyrus from me"

"but-" 

"no, that is my final answer"

"I'm not going to stop you, but the leader of the rebellion might be a tad cross"

"well sorry for that, but I'm going to go home now, guess he's going to have to be angry and think up of another plan"

the angel nodded in understanding. 

"as you wish" 

Delilah upped, taking her rain coat and wrapping it around her waist, and stormed out of the bar without another thought or word at the angel, and marched towards the bookshop down the road. There was no goddamn way that angel could convince her to join and lead a heavenly rebellion, no way in Hell.

Jophiel looked at the empty space, feeling actually quite nervous at Delilah's answer. '_Wow', _he thought to himself as he finished his scotch, '_I was told she had the temper and stubbornness of a demon, but I never in a billion years expected that! looks like I'll have to try it another way, or Nithael is going to be extremely angry with me for this one'._

* * *

*And occasionally a headache if you have drunk excessive amounts which, Delilah had done that day, just not in that bar.


	4. Corruption At It's Finest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cyrus has finally integrated to life in Hell after three years, but that doesn't mean he enjoys his job, especially when you no longer have hope of being rescued.

Amongst the several other things, he’d learned and realised in the three years he’d been in Hell, Cyrus had secretly learned to enjoy promotions. he'd thoroughly enjoyed being promoted to major general of Hell's forces two years into his stay because he managed to get away from his mother, who was a nightmare to deal with. it was also because he'd never gotten a promotion in his life! so to have on in death was a dream! 

However, this also meant he was working directly alongside Beelzebub, Lord (or Lady) of the flies and prince of Hell. and they could be an absolute pain to work with. He once hated working under Beelzebub, for they were ruthless and had been the one who gave the go ahead to Lilith to invade earth but now, for some reason, he'd come to respect them, for their lust for power and command of the forces of Hell, especially after learning that Beelzebub had once tried to overthrow Lucifer (which was why they were made a prince of Hell in the first place). So, as he was stood alongside Beelzebub during the meeting of the major players of Hell, he was oddly content.

"what'zzz going on on the surface?" Beelzebub enquired "what bad deeds have been performed recently?" 

"I tempted a nun" Hastur said "into stealing a baby and runnning away from the church" 

"I caused a car accident that killed three people" Dagon nodded 

"Cyrus?" Beelzebub asked the demon next to her "what did you do?"

"caused a homophobe to beat up two girlfriends" he shrugged and did his best to smile"beat them right to a pulp" 

Cyrus had hated doing that. He could deal out killing, hate crimes, command a fleet of angry demons, encourage prostitution, but he absolutely hated encouraging homophobes. two of his best friends when he was a teenager and alive were homosexual, Ned and Dexter would have hated him for it. Not to mention his parents-in-law were Crowley and Aziraphale! but he had to make sacrifices and was down on his luck on that one. however, what he failed to mention to the gang was that, he was the one who called the ambulance to help the girls out. so at least that gave him some merit right? besides he'd only told the guy to beat them up a little, not enough that they could be killed.

"very good" Beelzebub said "now why, did you, Hastur call this meeting?"*

"because Lord Beelzebub, the angels are revolting again and the other side are planning to damn them" 

"good we could do with some more torturers"

"there's a catch lord beelzebub" Dagon spoke up "An Angel was spotted in a bar" 

"so? what'z that got to do with anything?"

"an angel in a bar, is corruption, unless they're planning on blending in" Cyrus pointed out "and angering the head offices even more" 

"that is not the reason, the main reason is that your _girlfriend_ was seen with him!" Hastur spat "and that could be very bad for us all!" 

Cyrus scoffed "_girlfriend? _Delilah Crowley is not my girlfriend" 

"whatever she is does not matter, the problem is that she's leading the rebellion"

"how can you be sure about that?" Beelzebub asked 

"we heard her" Dagon said "and the angel" 

"the angel offered her it, of course we didn't hear her answer but, I believe we could guess the answer"

"well what do you suggest we do to stop it" 

"we have someone she 'cares' about here, we can use him to lure her and trap her to Hell" Hastur suggested 

"I'm not getting involved. I have a fleet to command for the angel rebellion" Cyrus said immediately, he did not want to get personally involved with this rebellion. not that he didn't enjoy violence, of course, it would be too painful reminder of what he had lost.

"excellent idea. it would work and we'd trap her in the ninth circle, in Lilith's place!" Beelzebub agreed

"we have no other option" Dagon added 

Cyrus shook his head and raised his hands in a way to say he'd have no part in it 

"guys, come on, lads, think about it, do you really need me to do this?"

"it will not work unlezz you are involved" Beelzebub said 

Hastur looked at Cyrus, and edged closer to him, in a threatening way. 

"you work for us now" he said "you do remember your half of the bargain, or do we need to remind you?"

"no, you don't- alright, I'll do it!"

"good. so we're agreed, Cyrus will plant some information, a hint, to where he iz and lead her to us where we will trap her" Beelzebub said

"spot on! Delilah won't see it coming" 

"are you sure you'll be up for the challenge? you don't still '_love_' her don't you?" Hastur asked bitterly

Cyrus paused, thinking long and hard about this, did he love her? yes she was pretty cute, yes he had loved her for most of his life, yes she was his wife, but she caused all of this to happen. if he had never met her, then he wouldn't have died then made that dreadful deal, only to be dragged back in ninety three years later, he would not have been responsible for that awful car crash if he had not made the deal, he would still be alive and well, living his dream of being a West-end star! on top of that, she hadn't come for him in the three years since he'd been dragged back, she had three years! Delilah would have rescued him by now and not moved on! she'd betrayed him! betrayed their promise of forever! and it was then that Cyrus realised that, whilst he may still be attracted to her, all the strong positive feelings about her he had had turned negative, leaving a bitter taste in his mouth. 

"no, I despise Delilah Crowley, I want her gone. there won't be a problem, I'll do it"

and in that moment, as he said those words, the three demons smiled evilly, for Cyrus Black, the man with the heart full of love and goodness, had become fully corrupted. 

* * *

*Hastur had called the meeting because in accordance with him it was 'a problem of the highest importance'.


	5. A Decision of a Lifetime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It seems Delilah isn't getting out of helping the angels that easily.... but then again, is anything ever easy?

Delilah had arrived back at the bookshop before dark. She’d caught no sign of her parents (who had moved back into the bookshop properly three years ago to support Delilah through her grief) and she guessed that;

A) They were out.

B) They were asleep. 

C) They were doing uh, other activities upstairs, in a bed, very quietly. 

She guessed it was either one of the first options because she’s accidentally heard her parents nightly activities before (and had walked in on them once when she was six, which traumatised her when she realised at age twelve that they weren’t just ‘wrestling like the statue still in daddy’s old apartment’. Brilliant explanation, Crowley) and they were certainly not quiet (well, her pa wasn’t, but don’t tell him, the poor angel would be embarrassed for at least a century). Delilah breathed out a sigh of relief, they’d never know where she’d been or what she’d been doing, Aziraphale had been extremely concerned about her mental health after Cyrus’ death, naturally, and had practically banned her from the alcohol in his storage, out of fear she would do something stupid like try and discorporate herself. Crowley had been similarly concerned but did still slip her minuscule bottles of wine or something every now and then (hey he’s a demon, he’s prone to demonic stuff). She put her coat on the coat hanger, and flopped down on the settee in the back room, too exhausted to go upstairs and she was out like a light.

that night she had an awful, terrible dream as if sent by Hell its self. Cyrus was yelling at her for not being there for him as he was dunked into Holy water. She woke up in a cold sweat as the sun beamed through the window. She felt something in her hand, looking down she noticed it was a slip of paper, with writing in handwriting she hadn’t seen before. Her eyes squinted as she read it, still blurry from sleep, but what she had read startled her so much that She leapt up in urgency.

_’Cyrus is alive’ _

Delilah threw on (miracled on) some fresh clothing and hurried on to find Aziraphale and Crowley to show them the note, she wasn’t sure whether it was real or not, but she probably should get an opinion on the matter, and she wasn’t going to ignore a chance on Cyrus. 

As she walked into the front room, knowing that’s where she’d find the Angel Aziraphale who could pr tell whether this note was real or just a prank, she heard talking.

”oh dear me, did you hear about the two poor girls who got assaulted by that man last night and left for dead? It’s all over the papers, it’s just dreadful” Aziraphale’s voice was heard

”Nobody reads the papers anymore angel” Crowley replied 

“Awful, they’ve arrested the man though, but I heard he doesn’t remember anything, if you ask me that’s a sign of demon work- no offence” a different voice said 

Crowley replied to that with silence and Delilah took that as a chance to actually talk to them and so she took it and entered the room

”hey dad, hey pa, I had this super creepy dream last night- oh” she stopped when she saw who it was in talking to her parents

”good morning Delilah, um this is-“

”Jophiel”

”hello again, Delilah” Jophiel smiled

Azriaphale gave Delilah a very confused look at the whole interaction

“oh you two have met?” 

“Yes we met at the p-“ 

“public library! You know that one- down the road from my old school” Delilah interrupted "i was working on research for the new book i'm writing, or planning to anyway and he was there and we got talking, but why the hell are you here?" Delilah turned to Jophiel 

"the angel was explaining to us that heaven is rebelling again and it's your fault" Crowley explained bitterly "but I don't entirely believe him" 

"you have to believe me! it's true! Gabriel is planning on damning every angel who rebels and you should know from experience how horrible it is, not only that, he's probably going to want the destruction of the root cause- which is not just Delilah, but you two as well"

"us? what did we do?" Aziraphale asked 

"you tricked heaven and hell into letting you have a peaceful life" 

"that was over a hundred years ago!" 

"they've been taking their time" 

"Hell never forgives, and Hell never forgets-" Crowley said remembering what Hastur had once said to him after a short trip to voicemail.

"-what's to say the same goes for Heaven?" Aziraphale finishes "...well, the latter part anyway, they're extremely forgiving up there" 

Jophiel nodded and glanced at Delilah who had just been standing quietly trying to absorb every word of the conversation and trying to forget the potentially life changing sip of paper burning* in her hand.

"which is why we need your help, you're of both Heaven and Hell, the perfect mix demons are terrified of you, most angels idolise you for the victory you earned in 'Battle of Tadfield cricket Field', Gabriel might listen to you and not damn more angels than ever before and cause an overpopulation problem in Hell" Jophiel said "please, I am begging you to help"

"my parents could be in danger" 

"oh no Lila, we won't be-" Aziraphale said 

"like Hell I'll let them get their hands on my angel again" Crowley added causing Delilah to gag at Crowley's protectiveness, honestly, she did not need to hear her dad call her pa '_my angel_' this early in the morning. 

"I believe that, yes, they'd definitely be in danger- despite what the other rebelling angels say" Jophiel nodded seriously and truthfully "I'm an angel, I can't lie" 

"well, you can, but you choose not to"

"exactly" 

Delilah swallowed, considering the offer once more, her hand tightening around the peice of paper

"you said that you were Cyrus' guardian angel, would you know if he's dead or not?"

"I was taken off the list of Guardian angels after his deal-" 

"deal?" 

"-ah uh that doesn't matter, but yes, I could know" 

"i got a note, this one right here- it's telling me he's alive but i don't know how to trust it"

she handed him the note, Jophiel examined it before passing it to Aziraphale

"that's wriiten in blood" Aziraphale said upon examining it 

"Cyrus' blood?" 

"it's part of the blood book, those condemed to hell can, upon arriving at their death, contact their loved ones by writing a note in the blood book or their dead loved ones can write in it- Heaven has something similar, but that's rarely used" Crowley explained "I used it once, in the fourteenth century to contact Aziraphale"*

"he's trying to let me know he's alive?"

"possibly" Jophiel said 

"Jophiel, Joey, whichever you prefer, if i help you with this, could you help me get to Hell and rescue Cyrus?" 

Jophiel looked at Delilah, uncertianty filling him quicker than anything, he could get in a lot of trouble if he accepted Delilah's condition, he could get demoted to desk duty in Heaven! he could lose his detective agency! Heck, he would probably be damned himself! 

"I- I don't know" 

"it would prove to Gabriel, to all the arch angels that you're a damn good Guardian angel and that principalities are not a force to be reckoned with" Delilah spoke 

"that's tempting, angels should not be tempted"

"It's not tempting, I don't tempt anyone! it's helping someone else who's been beyond broken for years, isn't that what you're supposed to do as a principality? help people?"

Jophiel considered her wording, it would be helping, and it would help him get back in line with the other archangels, and it isn't wrong if they're helping someone, they can't damn him for helping. 

"okay, i'll help, but only if you help us" 

"it's a deal" 

"d-deal? did you trick me?"

"figure of speech voter colonel Sebastian Doyle" 

"what?" Jophiel asked confused 

"Back to Reality? episode five, series six of Red Dwarf? no"

"what's the most common star in the milky way got to do with Reality?"

"oh you really are a Duane Dibbly, Duke of Dork" 

"i think you'd better stop referencing the show for now, dear" Aziraphbale said 

"still miss getting new episodes" Delilah shrugged

"I know however that feels, i'm still stuck on DVD's of the Golden Girls and even DVD's aren't really thing anymore" Crowley said 

"oh I liked the Golden Girls,m good show" 

"how the hell do you know about the Golden Girls and not Red Dwarf?" 

"must have slipped me by" Jophiel said "anyway, I believe we should probably get going" 

"uh, where?" Delilah asked

"the rebellion headquarters of course"

Delilah raised her eyebrow, she needed some more information than that if she was to help the angels with something this dangerous.

"and where's that?" 

Jophiel smiled, his eyes lighting up like a Christmas tree, despite it not even being remotely near Christmas.

"Winchester Cathedral, of course" 

* * *

*Figuratively, although she wouldn't have put it past whoever planted it on her to make it burn literally.

*Aziraphale had discorporated after catching The Black Death in Venice, 1348 and had written the heaven equivalent to let the demon know when he was going to be coming back. Crowley had used the book of blood to let Aziraphale know his body was being kept in good shape for when he did return. The Black Death was one of the many reasons why the demon really hated the fourteenth Century.


	6. The Angel-Devil Effect

"Winchester Cathedral!" Delilah exclaimed excitedly and rather befuddled at the random cathedral and the reason why Jophiel had said it so obviously

"the angels not rebelling assume that we would pick a place in London, but no Nithael had this great idea that we could put in a different place, and Winchester seemed like a place nobody would think- you didn't ask about that did you?" 

"...no I didn't! are you kidding? I've never been! one of my favourite authors are buried there!" Delilah squealed

"Jane Austen fan are we?" Jophiel asked

"A little"

"did I mention I met her? whilst I was in Winchester for a few years" Jophiel said 

"you did?" Delilah looked at him excitedly 

"everyone in this room did" Crowley muttered

"uh, if memory serves, you didn't, Crowley" Aziraphale pointed out "and Delilah wasn't even born yet" 

"no you're right, I was asleep for most of the nineteenth century" 

"no, you weren't asleep at that point, if I recall, you just were off in London making George III go even more insane or something whilst I decided to have a change of scenery off near the south downs"

"I'm going to Winchester Cathedral!" Delilah said

"_we're _going to Winchester Cathedral" Aziraphale said 

"what?" 

"we're coming to" 

"oh no, I do not need you two being in danger-" 

"let us help you" 

"he has a point Delilah, you're going to need all the help you can get, and i'd like the opportunity to punch Gabriel in the face for everything so we're coming to" Crowley said "and besides you don't have what was it? The Loser Group?"

"-The Loser Troupe" Aziraphale said quietly correcting the Demon

"-The Loser Troupe, anymore, so you'll have to settle for second best" 

"Fine! Fine! you can come!" Delilah had snapped after hearing those words, they stung even after all these years, the fact she had none of her friends anymore was such a sore topic that nobody dared to bring it up anymore. Crowley had fully deserved that snappy tone. He knew that it would have gotten to Delilah but he had needed to convince her that she would need help... although, perhaps he should have let Aziraphale do the convincing. 

"can we go, please? it's honestly really urgent"

"okay, but how- we can't take the Bentley that'll be too obvious right?" 

"the secret train tunnel" 

"the freaking what?" 

“The secret train tunnel?” 

“Okay then, lead the way”

* * *

* * *

Winchester Cathedral is a grand structure, in the town centre of Winchester, located Hampshire, England. It’s one of the largest in Europe with the greatest overall length of any Gothic cathedral*. the tunnel, that the rebel angels had built, not so much. it was dark and narrow and directly next to some tombs so it was more of a catacomb than a tunnel.

Delilah was not afraid of the dark of course, she'd gotten over that fear as soon as Crowley chased Hastur away from being the monster under her bed, but nevertheless the tunnel looked straight out of a paralysing nightmare or a horror movie

"scared?" Jophiel asked her 

"me? scared? never!"

Delilah followed the angel into the catacomb tunnel under the town centre of Winchester, her dad following behind her and her pa behind him, they walked in silence, no words needed to be said, anything that did would be covered once they were inside the establishment. but suddenly the silence was broken by a yelp. Delilah span round, just as her pa crashed into her dad who looked uncomfortable and in a lot of pain.

"dad?" Delilah asked concern spreading across her face "are you alright?"

"nothing a demon can't handle, just feeling like my feet are on a really hot beach" 

"we're directly below the cathedral then" Delilah said "are you sure it's just that?" 

"well, as long as we don't stay too long we should be alright" 

"spontaneous combustion" Delilah whispered to herself as the memory of a five year old bawling her eyes out sprang to her mind and started to make her more worried

"Lila- I know what you're thinking and i assure you your dad will not spontaneously combust" 

"You don't know that"

"I won't, Keep going"

"no, this is hurting you dad-"

"I'll be fine, just hopping around like mad" 

"promise me" 

"promise" 

"demon's promise" 

"a demon's promise"

"and an angels one too- if you want one" Aziraphale said 

"if you start to feel worse- no, wait, pa if dad start's to look more in pain, go back home with him" 

"I was going to do that anyway, I'm glad we're on the same page" 

"angel I don't need-" Crowley said

"protesting isn't going to help"

"fine!" Crowley sighed before looking directly at Delilah "I'm fine, honestly, I'm fine overall" 

Delilah hesitated before turning round and catching up with Jophiel who pushed away a loose stone and climbed up it. helping Delilah up, then Crowley and Aziraphale. 

"this" he said "is the operation" as he indicated to the multitude of angels each doing jobs that could be taken straight out Les Miserables- from leaflet making to angelic weapon loading. 

"yeah, yeah, can we get down to business-" Crowley hissed he really didn't trust this 'rebellion' anyway, let alone the pain was making him a little snippy 

"-to defeat the huns" Delilah sang before stopping "sorry, couldn't resist" 

"it's fine" Jophiel said smiling warmly at the young woman with a smile only an angel could muster 

“take me to your leader” she smiled “always wanted to say that!” 

“Or perhaps the leader will just come to you” a new voice was heard from behind Jophiel, who moved to the side to reveal a short but lanky angel. 

"I am Nitheal, the so called 'leader' of this rebellion, you must be Delilah the subduer of Lilith" 

"but I didn't kill her"

"no you captured her, something Gabriel is extremely bitter about" 

"why would he-"

"ah Aziraphale! good to see you again old friend" Nithael had already moved onto Aziraphale shaking his hand, rather roughly and eagerly, taking the other angel off guard.

"you too Nithael, I believe last time it was just before the failed apocalypse and you were being put on a desk job. how was the paperwork?"

"only got off it in the past fifty years"

"I'm not surprised" Aziraphale smiled before Nithael noticed Crowley, hopping from one foot to another.

"and the demon Crawley-"

"_Crowley_" 

"Crowley. Sorry about the location, but we can't do much about you being a demon i'm afraid" 

Nithael turned and then beckoned for Delilah to follow him to a stage

"come, we have much to discuss about your role in the rebellion"

"oh, okay, sure"

"starting with telling us your amazing plan" 

"but I don't have one" 

"you're good at what was it? 'winging it' am I correct?" 

"yes but-" 

"follow me" but he was saying nothing 

Delilah looked at Jophiel who sent her an overly apologetic and sympathetic look before she turned to her parents who looked a little concerned but quickly brushed it off as eccentricity*.

_'Well'_ thought Delilah, as she followed gingerly behind the leader of the rebellion '_This is going to be_ _**interesting**.'_

* * *

*According to Wikipedia anyway.

*Well Aziraphale did, Crowley was still a little bit more skeptical but he was saying nothing.


	7. A Hellish Surprise

_Nithael stood and addressed the crowd of angels on the steps of the altar of the cathedral, it was all a bit of a blur of what he said because Delilah had been so lost in thought that she could barely hear her name being said by the angel. You see, Delilah was extremely good at deciding whether she could trust people or not, as she'd learned the hard way that you can't trust everyone in this world when she nearly downed in St James's Lake in the park of the same name when she was five, having assumed those demons who trapped her under the ice were like Crowley and wanted to play with her and Agnes Pulsifer. however, as she stood on the stage she could not decide whether she could trust Nithael at all. He was so eccentric she could not figure out whether it was an act or genuinely just like that, whether he was true to the 'cause' or not. That being said she could sense that Jophiel's intentions were pure and he was just following orders but she didn't know why her gut was telling her not to trust anyone except Crowley and Aziraphale. It was just so confusing. _   
_"Delilah" _   
_"Yeah, Sorry, basically, we need to uh take a small team of us and convince Hell to join, maybe get some military involved and then we'll have a bigger army than Gabriel, that's what you're missing" _   
_"And would you mind telling us how?" Nithael said _   
_"Well, we sneak into Hell, surely one of you have been down there to bring holy water or god knows, and we find and speak to the major of the demonic army who will in turn speak to Beelzebub and get you help" _   
_The angels seemed to accept that plan with ease and no more questions, she supposed it was because they trusted her. Shame she couldn't say the same about them._

"Delilah? Delilah?" Jophiel asked shaking the girl gently from sleep that she technically didn't need "it's time to keep moving"

She rubbed her eyes and yawned, blinking to get her bearings back, in the dank, dark, dusty, corridor they'd managed to find away from the busy part of Hell. It had been three days. Three days since she told the angels of her plan she'd thought up on the spot, three days sins they'd entered he'll and three days of hiding and walking and quite frankly Delilah was sick of it, sick of Hell, sick of waiting, sick of this goddamn plan she'd just made up on the spot.

The group sent to Hell consisted of three beings ('the smaller, the better' Nithael had said, which, had roughly translated to 'the smaller the group, the less casualties there will be'), Delilah, Jophiel and surprisingly, Crowley. Delilah had been sent ahead as it was her idea and honestly, she swore that Nithael just wanted someone to blame if it went wrong, Delilah wasn't complaining, this could be a very slim opportunity to see Cyrus again, although this opportunity had been becoming less and less likely with each passing hour*. Jophiel had been forced to go along just because he was Nithael's apparent 'right hand man'*, the third member had been Crowley, he'd surprisingly volunteered, which had shocked the angels (and Delilah, a little) simply giving the explanation that 'you'll need a guide to Hell, assuming that nobody else has been down there that often and I'd rather not spend my days hopping from foot to foot in this hell-hole*'. Nithael has been more than happy to get rid of him after that explanation, Delilah on the other hand, figured Crowley just wanted to keep an eye on his only child, and that he did it because Aziraphale might have been worried out of his mind about her down there and she knows from the last time she disappeared to deal with hellish business that when Aziraphale gets worried, it's extremely bad and will end tears.

Delilah nodded at Jophiel, she'd been determine she could trust him after spending three days with him. In fact they'd started to become friends and even Crowley had started to show signs of liking the angel. The demon was currently was walking just ahead of them, having been awake the whole night keeping watch and having a head start, a blank stare on his face as if lost in thought. Delilah stood up and ran after him, sliding up to his side as she smiled at her dad/

"You alright?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Oh I don't know, last time you were in here you were being tortured for no reason other than trying to help me anyone would be terrified coming back after that, demon or not"

"oh _that_? I've had my nightmares about that and they don't bother me, and being back here? piece of cake" 

"dad-" 

"anyway, how are you holding up Lila? I know we don't really do this kind of thing often" 

"more like never talking like this at all, unless you count the times you cornered me to talk" 

"I'm trying to do my best here, work with me" 

"I don't know, honestly, I keep looking out for Cyrus and hoping I'll see him but-"

"-but you're losing hope? that it's coming even more unlikely that you will?"

Delilah nodded in reply 

"Hell does that, and I know that I'm sounding like Aziraphale here but you can't let it get to you" 

"you're a demon, isn't losing hope your whole thing?" 

"I'm a shit demon, Delilah" 

"touche" 

"anyway, how'd you think i got through that torture chamber?"

"luck?" 

"well, yes, but admittedly I held onto the hope that you'd get us out and you did!" 

"no i didn't" 

"well, okay, you didn't, but I'm trying to be a sympathetic and concerned parent here so give me a break"

"yeah, like a hundred years too late, dad" Delilah said with a smirk on her face

"I give up! you half demons are the death of me!" 

Delilah laughed at her dad's overdramatic nature before Jophiel stopped them and pulled Delilah by the jacket collar back around a corner, covering her mouth with his hand, Crowley got the hint and stepped along side Jophiel giving him a glare as Delilah pushed Jophiel's hand away from her mouth with a glare

"hey! I don't need you to cover my mouth to tell me to-"

"-shush" Jophiel whispered as two demons came into earshot. 

"how can we be sure you're loyal to the cause?" a voice said

"Orias" Crowley hissed in a hushed voice 

"-Marquis of Hell, arguably worse than Hastur and Lingur combined" Jophiel whispered to Delilah 

"debatable" Crowley said 

"because you can trust me" another voice said 

Delilah could have sworn she recognised the other voice, but then again, she couldn't be certain, Hell play all sort of manipulation tricks on the mind, so she stood there listening on the conversation, determined not to let their tricks affect her. 

"we're demons, we don't trust people"

"I'm more than a demon, Orias"

"I still don't understand why Beezlebub is so fond of you, you should be back in that jail cell in the ninth circle of Hell" 

"maybe I'm just good at my job" 

"I'm not the one who lost to your _family_" 

"eh I'm just too chaotic in my alignment to be stuck in a jail cell block" 

something snapped. A realisation. Delilah struggled against Jophiel's grasp, she'd recognise that manor of speaking anywhere, nobody in Hell could know what chaotic alignment meant in those terms, in fact only one person she knew would use that term in an actual sentence. 

"Delilah" Jophiel said 

"let go" 

"we don't even know who that other demon is, and that's a trap" 

too late, Delilah had broken his grasp, pushing past Crowley to get a better look

"Delilah, _think_ about it" 

"no, let me have a look, please" 

the half angel poked her head round the corner as two demons rounded the corner, catching a glimpse, she took in all the details of the demons appearances, Orias, was a female looking demon with brown hair, ear piercings all down her ears, short, old british redcoat army outfit, she had a bloodstained skin. The other demon, Deililah didn't need to know what they looked like, tall, with an athletic build, with tanned skin and wavy jet black hair that used to be hidden under a long forgotten beanie hat. 

the half angel, half demon hid back round the corner, looking at her dad, then at Jophiel, her heart hammering in her chest as she replied to the angel. 

"I know that demon, he's a cambion and definately not evil"

"nope, not evil at all" Crowley confirmed with a eyeroll "he only got you into musical theatre and took you to those awful chick flick films in your teenage years" 

"who- Delilah, what in God's name are you doing?" 

Delilah had done the one thing she could think of, she stepped out of hiding just as the pair were halfway down the corridor, past where the trio had been hidden, and stood in the middle of the corridor, spoke the fatal words that could blow her whole 'plan' sky high. 

"Cyrus?”

* * *

*Hell really did suck the hope and expectations out of you and she really hated that fact for if Delilah was only in there for three days so far and already losing hope then she dreaded to think what had happened to Cyrus after three years.   
*He was in fact, not, the right hand man, Nithael just enjoyed exploiting his loyalty and apparent naivety.   
*the Hell Hole bit had made Nithael grimace at the disrespect but what can you do? He's a demon who was in pain.


	8. That Man Is Dead

Cyrus Black had turned around upon hearing his name being called to the impossible and mentally swore rather loudly. To understand why he swore, we have to know what he was doing prior to this unfortunate event. You see, Cyrus had just gotten out of yet another boring meeting with Beelzebub. They called it a 'progress check', he called it 'a great big telling off'. apparently, these had been put in place after the 'Abotchalpse'*, to keep a closer eye on demons so they don't go native, and apparently every working demon (or product*) of Hell had to be subjected to it but he had not in fact met one demon, who was under this new regime and so, he could only presume it was something to keep an eye on him, not the whole of Hell and the whole stick about it being implemented after the summer of the Antichrist's 11th Birthday was a big fat lie. 

Anyhow, it was what was said in this meeting that had caused the reaction Cyrus experienced just then, for he had been told by the buzzing prince of Hell, that he 'was to wait until they come to us and then trick them into my grasp', 'them' being Delilah and whoever the hell (pun not intended) she would take on the journey to this place and 'my grasp' meant the trap of eternal imprisonment and torture. And Cyrus, who was beginning to feel the pressure had decided he would go up tomorrow to the surface and stop Delilah from going no matter what, because even though he was a terrible husband who probably didn't even love her anymore, he wouldn't wish that on her even if he wanted to crush her into oblivion. So, naturally, as he walked side by side to the work hall with his 'friend' Orias, marquis of Hell (and commander army of hundreds of demons calling themselves Legion) and heard that familiar voice call his name, the first logical thing he could do was swear and hope it was just his imagination. 

Upon hearding his name and turning around, he came to the realisation that no it was not Hell playing tricks on him or his imagination. he locked eyes with a young woman who was around eighteen in appearance with long ginger hair that flowed down to her shoulders, bright blue eyes that reminded him of a clear blue sky, a faded black leather jacket that looked well worn and well loved, along with khaki jeggings and a purple jumper over a grey t-shirt. his eyes widened she he stared back at him a slow smile creeping up onto her lips as the words slipped from his mouth.

"a-angel is that you?"

"I'm not an angel" 

"Could have fooled me" 

She started to run up to him, clearly wanting a reunion between the two, and Cyrus didn't blame her, three years of being without each other took a toll on him, but then, if she truly missed him then surely she would have rescued him immediately after his death and not left him for this long in this literal hell hole. Cyrus clicked his fingers and Delilah fell to her knees, chains sprouting from the floor and securing her in her place, Orias looked at what was going on and scurried away, for a marquis of Hell they sure were cowardly.

"Cyrus let go of her, now" Crowley came out of hiding holding a plant mister clearly full of holy water. 

'_Where the heaven was he hiding that?' _Delilah thought, but to her horror, Cyrus only waved his hand knocking the mister to the floor and chained Crowley down alongside her, just as Cyrus clicked his fingers again and the trio was teleported to the the Prince of Hell's throne room. Where Beelzebub and a familiar Duke of Hell were waiting to see the show. 

"Well done Cyruzzz, now we can get rid of the abomination once and for all" Beelzebub buzzed

"And not forgetting the traitor" Hastur added 

"Beelzebub! What have you done to him?" Delilah narrowed her eyes at the pair 

"Nothing, he made a deal and he's only holding up his end of the bargain" Hastur smiled 

"What deal?" 

"You don't know? I made a deal with him when he sacrificed himself for you, he'd live a life with you until I called him back, but he must serve Hell for eternity" 

"And he did make an excellent show of misery based around you" 

she glanced up at her husband, pleadingly, hoping he never did that. 

"what ever happened to the Cyrus who'd do anything to stop Hell and not give into his demon side? Please tell me that man's in there somewhere?" 

Cyrus' look softened, briefly as he sauntered up to the girl, as if he was about to admit it was all part of some plan, that he wasn't really that bad, but Delilah should never get her hopes up as he crouched in front of her a smile on his face, she smiled back, before his eyes went cold once more and he stood up narrowing his glare 

"That man is dead, dead and cold, gone whatever you wish to call it" 

"Cyrus, that's not true- I know you're in there!" 

"Oh he's been gone for a while now, the man you loved has been dead for three years, ever since you abandoned me here to rot" 

"I never abandoned you-" 

"IT SURE SEEMED THAT WAY!" 

"I knew you couldn't be trusted, I knew you'd hurt her! Right from the moment you two met!" Crowley suddenly spoke anger filling his voice 

"Yet you knew about my deal and never told her" 

"What?" Delilah said looking at her dad "you knew?" 

"No, not until three years ago- when your pa told me everything" Crowley said guilt filling his voice

"PA KNEW?" Delilah suddenly exclaimed a look of hurt at the betrayal flickering across her face "what else have you not told me?" She asked 

"Oh, I've got one" Hastur smirked "Cyrus is responsible for the car crash, oh what was it? Fifty years ago?" 

"Shut up" Cyrus hissed at Hastur 

"You know the one, the one that took that spoiled brat from you" 

"What was his name? Alex? Wazzz it?" Beelzebub joined in 

"You swore not to tell her about that?" Cyrus hissed at the pair which would have shocked Delilah, had she not been focusing on the new information, praying it not to be true. 

"Cyrus, tell me it's not true" Delilah said looking at him pleadingly "tell me you didn't kill him" 

Cyrus froze turning to her direction but he couldn't figure out what to say. The silence was deafening, and Delilah knew it was true, she didn't want to believe it, how, how could he do something like that- her heart shattered. 

"Why?" Is all Delilah managed out "WHY?" 

"I didn't want to, they made me crash the car. There's nothing more to be said" Cyrus said 

"Take them to the ninth circle" Beelzebub said 

"Not so fast, what's going on?" Hastur pointed out as the prisoners were surrounded by a bright light, and suddenly started to fade before their eyes

"What the hell?" Beelzebub hissed "bring them back" 

"It's a divine miracle, we can't" Hastur said as Crowley and Delilah disappeared from the room 

"Satan damn it" Beelzebub said "Cyrus! Go and get Dagon to ready the troupes we'll have to kill the abomination and take over the second rebellion by force" 

Cyrus stumbled out of the room, catching his breath* as he slammed the door behind him, _What did he do?_ He's just ruined his relationship with Delilah for ever! _Why did he let his anger get in the way? Oh Satan, what had he done? _

* * *

* * *

*which was what Delilah called the apocalypse attempt that failed thanks to Aziraphale, Crowley, Adam, and the others. 

* which he seemed to be the only product of Hell, being half demon, half human, and so seemed to be the only one subjected to this.

*if he could breathe, which since he is dead, he cannot.


End file.
